Lorelei

The first thing I noticed was the silence. Not the oppressive, waiting silence of Calista’s presence, but a soft, empty quiet. Sunlight, pale and weak, streamed through the tall windows of my room, painting long, lazy rectangles on the floor. I was curled on the deep windowsill, my knees drawn to my chest, just watching the distant treeline of the forest beyond the citadel walls. It was a world of green and freedom I could see but never touch. My cage, for all its gold and silk, had ...